o Eugene, Ore., says ride-sharing is illegal, and drivers must hold taxi licenses.
o Uber already offers the ride-sharing service in Vancouver, where its legality has been questioned.
The Vancouver City Council will have its first discussion Monday about Uber, a ride-sharing company that has been operating illegally in the city since this summer.
The council will be presented with potential policy decisions, ranging from shutting Uber down for failing to comply with the city’s taxi code to getting out of the ride-for-hire regulation business entirely and leaving it up to the state.
Middle-ground options include following the city of Spokane’s lead and crafting regulations for ride-sharing companies while easing some rules for taxi companies.
Assistant Vancouver City Attorney Brent Boger will lead Monday’s workshop with Lloyd Tyler and Carrie Lewellen, the city’s chief financial officer and treasurer. In a July 25 memo, Boger wrote that the smartphone-based ride service, which connects passengers with drivers who charge a flat fee, doesn’t comply with city taxicab requirements.
Among other things, cars don’t have a uniform look — as Uber drivers use their own vehicles — and there’s no central business location.
The city regulates metered vehicles for hire and leaves it up to the state to license flat-rate driving services such as limousines.
While the city’s taxi code doesn’t expressly refer to “transportation network companies,” such as Uber — in part because they’re a relatively new phenomenon — the companies are undeniably taxi services, Boger wrote in his memo, and must comply with all city regulations.
Cities have taken different approaches to transportation network companies, which include Lyft and Sidecar. Seattle allows Uber, for example, while Portland doesn’t. Eugene, Ore., officials recently warned Uber drivers they could be fined unless they apply for a city taxi license.
In response to competition from transportation network companies, the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association launched a website, www.whosdrivingyou.org, that claims the unregulated companies are “a serious threat to public safety.”
Uber has told city officials its drivers go through a background check, carry specified insurance and have safety inspections on their late-model, street-legal vehicles, according to a copy of Monday’s presentation.
In anticipation of the workshop, Vancouver city staffers have met with representatives from three licensed taxi companies to hear their concerns as well as with a representative for Uber.
No public testimony will be taken at the workshop, 4:30 p.m. at City Hall, 415 W. Sixth St.
